Chapter 6

Part 1 (Raquel)

It wasn't long before they saw the first signs of the outskirts of Republic City and the trees of the spirit wilds started turning into buildings and houses. "Almost there now." Raquel called to her friends. Judy was in the back seat petting her new pet catmunk, Nutmeg and Bailey was sitting next to Raquel staring out the window.

The Spirit Wilds were turning into a huge field. The remains of what used to be part of Republic City could still be seen. There was a large abandoned apartment building sticking out from a group of smaller Spirit Trees. "Kinda creepy looking" Judy said from behind Raquel.

The road got busier as they finally entered the city. "Where are we going?" Bailey asked as Raquel drove down the road which was slowly turning into a highway.

"I was thinking a corner store to get a map." Raquel replied and Bailey and Judy nodded their heads with approval.

There was a gas station just a few minutes after they had entered the city and they pulled into it. Judy ran in to pay for gas and get a map of the city while Bailey pumped gas into the car. After a while Judy came back with a map and a smile on her face, "the guy in the store said there's a costume store just down the road." She informed them.

It took them a while before they could find the store. Bailey was driving and she went down several wrong roads before they finally found the one they were looking for. It wasn't very hard to spot the store because of how colourful the outside of it looked. Bailey parked on the street and the three girls looked at it for a moment.

"Make sure you leave a window slightly open for that catmunk" Bailey told Judy who opened up the back window enough to let air in. Nutmeg stayed curled up in a ball and seemed not to notice them leaving.

When they opened the door to the store Raquel was amazed by all the costumes and costume supplies that were there. "Welcome" called a happy looking store clerk from the side of the store. "Anything I can help you with?" She asked them.

"We're just looking, thanks though." Judy called to her.

"Let me know if you need anything" the clerk replied and went down a nearby isle.

The three of them split up to try to make things go faster. Raquel was going to try to find something to match the name Tweeny Bigbags. She flipped through several gross looking dresses before coming across a particularly ugly one that was light pink with huge bright blue flowers all over it. She chuckled a little before pulling it off the hanger. It was perfect for her disguise. She then went and explored a pile of wigs until she found a granny looking one and then she headed for the accessories pile. She didn't have to look too hard before finding a pair of fake glasses.

After ten or so minutes of looking through costumes the girls met up again at the dressing room area. "Ok let's try them on and show off what we found." Bailey told them excitedly. "Me first" she said and went barging into the dressing room.

After a few moments of waiting Bailey came out and Judy and Raquel both starting laughing at the sight of her. She was wearing an old men's dress coat and pants, along with shiny black dress shoes and black top hat. She had put a wig on under the top hat and dark grey curls stuck out from under it. On her face were a fake grey moustache and her glasses, which fit in perfectly with the rest of her disguise. She was leaning on a dark brown cane and smirking at them. "How do I look?" she asked in her best fake accent with her voice lowered.

"Very handsome, Mr. Archibald Alexander the Second." Raquel said and gave her a bow.

"Lovely." Judy laughed "My turn." she pushed past Bailey and went into the dressing room. Moments later Judy opened the door and came out. She was wearing a blue tee shirt with a butterfly design on it as well as a light blue skirt that just covered her knees. She had put her hair in pigtails and it made her look three or more years younger. Around one of them was a fake blue flower that matched the colour of her shirt. "It's not anywhere as creative as Bailey's but I think it'll work." she said.

"I think you look adorable." Raquel teased. "Alright here I go." She went into the changing room with her small pile of clothing and shut the door behind her. The dress had a high neck line and long sleeves that buttoned at the end. It felt like it would be very hard to do any bending in and Raquel hoped she wouldn't have to fight anyone in it. She bunched up her long hair into a bundle and shoved it under the wig which was grey with an old fashioned bun at the back. She put on the fake glasses on and laughed at her appearance in the mirror. The glasses were a little too big for her face and made her look even more hilarious.

Raquel stepped out of the change room and was met with Judy and Bailey's hysterical laughter. "You said my name was Tweeny Bigbags. So now I really feel the part." She said in her best old lady voice.

After the three of them changed back into their other cloths they went to the front of the store to buy their disguises. "Did you find everything ok?" the store clerk asked them.

"Yes we did." Bailey said as she handed the clerk some money to pay for the clothing. Luckily it didn't cost too much.

"You wouldn't happen to know of a cheap around here were we can spend a night or two, would you?" Judy asked the clerk.

She thought about it for a moment than said, "Yeah actually, there's an inn down the road, turn left when you get to the street lights, and then drive down to the next set of lights, it'll be on your right. It's pretty cheap but it's not the nice place."

"I'm sure it'll work out fine. Thanks." Bailey said with a smile.

Part 2 (Joel)

After the mysterious spirit had told Joel that it knew of his mission Joel was shocked and slightly impressed. It didn't take much on the spirits part to convince Joel to blindly follow it into the spirit wilds, which now that Joel was struggling to climb over a very large spirit vine became somewhat of a bother to him. He had no idea why he decided to just follow this spirit but he had and they had been wandering through the Spirit Wilds for well over an hour.

"Where are we going?" Joel asked the spirit for what was probably the hundredth time since they left the inn.

"You will see when you get there." The spirit answered just like it had every other time Joel asked.

"Are we at least almost there? I'm starting to feel really tired."

"We will be there soon as long as you keep up your slow human pace." The spirit sounded a little annoyed.

Joel felt like he had been climbing vines for ever and that it would never end. They must be near the middle of the spirit wilds by now.

"Why aren't there any other spirits hanging around?" Joel asked slightly curious as he started to try to remember whether or not he had seen any other spirits on this crazy hike.

"They are afraid and they are hiding."

"Afraid? Of what? Me?" Joel asked confused.

"They do not know if you are a White Lotus member or not." The spirit turned its yellow eyes towards Joel, "The White Lotus has been taking non-benders and locking them in the Spirit World."

"They've been locking non-benders in the Spirit World…" Joel knew the white lotus was taking non-benders away but he never imagined they would do something like that to them.

"Yes. And the White Lotus has been harming the Spirits as well. They want all the spirits to help them gather and lock up all the non-benders. Of course most spirits don't want to involve themselves with human conflicts but when they refuse to help the White Lotus, they disappear and are never seen again. We have no idea what happens to them."

The spirit sounded sad, as if it had lost some friends and Joel was sure that it had. "The white lotus has to be stopped." He stated in a defiant voice.

"Yes I agree and the Avatar must be found." The spirit said.

"But we have no idea where or who the Avatar is."

"They will be found when they are truly needed." The spirit looked at him and flew up over a large vine that Joel was struggling to climb over. It was a bright green colour and had moss growing on the top of it. Joel had to pull himself over it because it was so thick.

"Why do you need me anyway?" Joel asked the Spirit once he managed to climb over the vine and had made it down to the other side. Every other time he had asked that question the spirit had just ignored him.

This time however it answered, "A friend of mine asked me to get you and bring you to him."

"Who's your friend?" Joel had no idea who would be looking for him.

"You'll see when we get there" was all the spirit told him.

Joel didn't bother pushing the subject any farther. He knew the Spirit wouldn't tell him. They traveled for a while longer before stopping at a small pond. The water was crystal clear and Joel could see to the bottom of it. There were a bunch of weird looking green coloured rocks that seemed to almost glow a little. The pond itself was nestled in a large group of vines. Joel kneeled down over it and drank some of the water. He was so thirsty from his long walk.

As he raised his head he noticed the spirit watching him closely. Then there was a noise from behind one of the vines. Joel stood up just in time to see three White Lotus members appear over the top of it. They seemed just as surprised to see him there as he was to see them. Before any of them could react, Joel bended the water from the pond at them as hard as he could, managing to knock them all off the vine. He knew he had to get out of there and could hear the angry shouts from the White Lotus members as they tried to get back over the vine.

He turned to leave the other way but found his path blocked by the spirit. Before Joel could do or say anything its eyes glowed and Joel suddenly felt very tired. His body couldn't support him anymore and he fell to his side. He landed strait in the pond and was surprised to find that it was full of water. He was sure that he had used it all when he sent it pounding into the White Lotus members. His body left heavy and he couldn't move. He started to drift off to sleep as the water washed over his face.